A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing. William Somerset Maugham
An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones. William Somerset Maugham
Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too. William Somerset Maugham
Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all. William Somerset Maugham
Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less. William Somerset Maugham
Death doesn't affect the living because it has not happened yet. Death doesn't concern the dead because they have ceased to exist. William Somerset Maugham
Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it. William Somerset Maugham
Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul. William Somerset Maugham
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. William Somerset Maugham
Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mother. William Somerset Maugham
Habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they cease to be advantageous. William Somerset Maugham
I do not believe they are right who say that the defects of famous men should be ignored. I think it is better that we should know them. Then, though we are conscious of having faults as glaring as theirs, we can believe that that is no hindrance to our achieving also something of their virtues. William Somerset Maugham
I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me. William Somerset Maugham
I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are written. William Somerset Maugham
I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ. William Somerset Maugham
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too. William Somerset Maugham
If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news? William Somerset Maugham
In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally. William Somerset Maugham
In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time. William Somerset Maugham
It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it. William Somerset Maugham
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it. William Somerset Maugham
It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive. William Somerset Maugham
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. William Somerset Maugham
It is salutary to train oneself to be no more affected by censure than by praise. William Somerset Maugham
It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know." William Somerset Maugham
It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. William Somerset Maugham
It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it. William Somerset Maugham
Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered. William Somerset Maugham
Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind. William Somerset Maugham
Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species. William Somerset Maugham
Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out of it. William Somerset Maugham
Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable. William Somerset Maugham
Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. William Somerset Maugham
Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets. William Somerset Maugham
My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror. William Somerset Maugham
No gray hairs streak my soul, no grandfatherly fondness there! I shake the world with the might of my voice, and walk -handsome, twenty-two year old. William Somerset Maugham
Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth. William Somerset Maugham
Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long. William Somerset Maugham
Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved. William Somerset Maugham
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit. William Somerset Maugham
She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the obvious. William Somerset Maugham
The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill. William Somerset Maugham
The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind. William Somerset Maugham
The great American novel has not only already been written, it has already been rejected. William Somerset Maugham
The great critic must be a philosopher, for from philosophy he will learn serenity, impartiality, and the transitoriness of human things. William Somerset Maugham
The world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is one of anger. William Somerset Maugham
The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress. William Somerset Maugham
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. William Somerset Maugham
There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. William Somerset Maugham
There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of action. William Somerset Maugham
There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless. William Somerset Maugham
Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece. Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, their villains wholly bad. William Somerset Maugham
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. William Somerset Maugham
We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby. William Somerset Maugham
We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others. William Somerset Maugham
What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature. William Somerset Maugham
What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories. William Somerset Maugham
When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me. William Somerset Maugham
When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right. William Somerset Maugham
When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character. William Somerset Maugham
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance. William Somerset Maugham
You can do anything in this world if you are prepares to take the consequences. William Somerset Maugham
You know that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct. William Somerset Maugham
You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism. William Somerset Maugham
Type: Playwright Date of Birth:
1874-01-25 Year of Death:
1965 Nationality:
British
